The home ministry is planning to relax the minimum height requirement for people from the Nepalese community residing in India to join the paramilitary forces, minister of states for home affairs Kiren Rijiju said on Wednesday.

Rijiju praised the contribution of the Nepalese community in developing the Indian culture.

“The Nepalese community has played a very important role in saving and making the Indian culture and because of their enormous contribution, we are proposing relaxation of height for the Nepalese community residing in India in paramilitary forces,” he said.

The minister said the relaxation in the height limit would be same as given to Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the paramilitary forces.

The Scheduled Tribes get a relaxation of a few centimetres in paramilitary forces. The minimum height for all candidates belonging to Scheduled Tribes is 162.5 centimetres for males and 150 centimetres for females.

The minimum height for General Category candidates is 170 centimetres for males and 157 centimetres for females.

At the event, Ramdev urged people to believe in national unity, which should be above unity over caste, religion and region.